MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 28th December, 2018) Nearly 31 million non-working pensioners will receive an increase to their pensions in 2019, with average allowance exceeding 15,400 rubles ($221) and rising by 1,000 rubles compared to this year, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova said Thursday.
"[A total of] 30,778,000 citizens � unemployed old-age pensioners � will see their pensions rise in 2019. The average national increase in pensions will amount to 1,000 rubles," Golikova said at a meeting with Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, held on the occasion of the upcoming changes to the Russian pension system, which will come into effect starting from January 1, 2019.
Golikova recalled that the average pension in Russia stood at 14,414 rubles in 2018, while next year, it would be as high as 15,414 rubles.
According to Golikova, those citizens who worked in rural areas for more than 30 years and continue to live there will see their fixed pensions increase by 25 percent.
Medvedev, in turn, noted that the pension indexation would be above the inflation rate.
One of the most significant changes to the country's pension system also includes the gradual increase in retirement age. Under a new law, starting from 2019, Russia will slowly raise retirement age for men from 60 to 65 years and from 55 to 60 years for women.
